A 1932 Auburn will be one of the classic cars featured in 'Metro Cruise LIVE, the Concourse.'
Supplied

those classy competitions of mint-condition automobiles, television station WKTV is putting on a glamorous ode to automotive history at the 28th Street Metro Cruise Friday night.

“Metro Cruise LIVE, the Concourse” will feature 25 vintage and classic cars from around West Michigan, said WKTV General Manager Tom Norton. The show starts at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23 outside the old Klingman’s building on 28th Street in Wyoming. Admission is free.

“This is a show where the cars are the stars,” Norton said.

The ninth annual 28th Street Metro Cruise, put on by the Wyoming-Kentwood Chamber of Commerce, is being held Friday, Aug. 23 and Saturday, Aug. 24 along 15 miles of 28th Street from Grandville to Cascade. Last year, about 250,000 spectators flocked to 28th Street to watch 15,000 works of automotive art roll by.

WKTV has been broadcasting the Metro Cruise since it began in 2005, and the station is always looking for new ways to expand its coverage, Norton said.

“Last year we came up with an idea – why don’t we combine a Hollywood premiere with a car show?” he said.

They took the concept of the Concours d’Elegance and tweaked it a little. Instead of the cars being shown on a grassy field, they will promenade down a 75-foot-long red carpet.

“It truly is a one-of-a-kind event,” Norton said. “We have bleachers for crowd seating on either side of the red carpet, Hollywood searchlights crossing the night sky and it’s all on live television. Everything that we’ve heard from the owners is how truly excited they are to have their vehicles appear in such an event.”

After each car rolls down the red carpet, the owner will give a short history.

The entries include a Lamborghini Reventon valued at $1.6 million, a 1930 Cadillac LaSalle, a 1966 Jaguar, a 1911 Pierce Arrow, and a 1932 Auburn Boattail.

Speed Television announcer David Knisely will host the event along with WKTV anchor Michele Steere.

The Metro Cruise officially opens at 4 p.m. Friday with an expanded vendor and food court at Roger’s Plaza.

“The vendor show has been expanded tremendously, with lots of things to see and do and eat,” said Karen J. Kacynski, public relations director for the Metro Cruise.

Jimmy Shine, from Speed Channel’s “Car Warriors,” will be available for autographs on Friday and Saturday.

The annual Pinup Girl contest runs 6-8 p.m. Friday on the Rogers Plaza Stage. This year’s contest will have twice as many entries as last year’s, Kacynski said.

“It’s a family-friendly event. The girls are dressed in era-correct makeup, hair and outfits from the 1940s and ’50s.”

This year, the chamber created a fundraising pinup girl calendar, which will sell for $5. Proceeds will allow the organization to provide scholarship money for area high school students.

Scholarship funds are also being raised through screenings of “American Graffiti” throughout the weekend at the Rivertown Crossings and Woodland Mall Celebration Cinemas.

On Saturday morning, the Metro Cruise opens at 9 a.m. at Rogers Plaza with Candy Clark, who starred in “American Graffiti,” serving as grand marshal. The Wyoming Wolves Marching Band will perform.

Many businesses along the route also hold events of their own throughout the day.

“The Wyoming-Kentwood Chamber is very excited to have this going again this year as it continues to build momentum going into our tenth year,” Kacynski said.

A community event will be held prior to the Cruise to
thank the Wyoming High School students who make up the bulk of the event's
volunteers, according to Kacynski.

The event will be held 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22 in
the parking lot in the northwest Rogers Plaza lot. It will feature food, games, vendor displays and a
presentation on texting and driving by Allstate Insurance. Proceeds from event will benefit area school students
through the Wyoming-Kentwood Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

For the latest information and a list of “American Graffiti” show times and other events, go to the Metro Cruise website at www.28thstreetmetrocruise.com or the event's Facebook page.